


Dead And Buried On A Hillside

by ExoticBuns



Category: RWBY
Genre: Drunkle Qrow, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 03:30:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17072693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExoticBuns/pseuds/ExoticBuns
Summary: Raven cut herself off from her team a few years ago, but sometimes a visit is in order.





	Dead And Buried On A Hillside

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyyyy I wrote something! I just felt like writing this so take it. It's short and sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it.  
> Do they?  
> They will!
> 
> Sorry my jokes aren't funny.
> 
> Inspired by that one picture. You know the one!  
> https://www.pinterest.com/pin/288863763583489809/

Raven shivered as the chilly winds of late autumn cut through her clothing. She rested her arms on her knees as she sat cross legged in the grass, her gaze focused a few feet ahead of her. She and Summer used to talk on this ridge. That was years ago, before Raven left. Before Summer left. They were barely out of Beacon, celebrating their graduation with drinks. Raven remembered Qrow being hesitant, not wanting to get too carried away. Ironic that he would turn to alcohol to drown his grief. Raven was ashamed of him. He was weak. She was glad that he refused to return to the tribe. They were better off without him.

She gave a frustrated sigh and gripped her sword. Summer wouldn't want her thinking like that. He's your brother, she'd say. You love your family, no matter what. Raven scoffed at the thought. So much for that ideal. Just another reason for Summer to be disappointed in her.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner." Raven spoke aloud, softly so that she would go unnoticed by the family of hers just down the hill. She didn't want to give Taiyang more grief than he already had. She had hurt him enough. "I didn't exactly know until a few days ago. I tried to see you, but my semblance didn't work. The last time that happened...well, I told you about my father." He had died when she was barely fifteen. Her mother had died a long time ago, giving birth to Qrow. The first victim of his semblance.

The wind whistled as it blew harder and the leaves shook in the trees. Raven remembered the way Summer looked with her hair in the wind, struggling to keep up her hood with that infectious laugh. Raven had rarely laughed, but it was always because of Summer. Once because of Tai, but she was sick and delirious. He still never let her live it down, though.

"The others are worse off than me without you, but I'm still allowed to grieve too, aren't I? You were my friend. Probably my only one. I never really told you, but you knew. Didn't you?" Raven sighed and shook her head, forcing herself to let go of her sword. "Have you seen Qrow? Poisoning himself with alcohol. And Tai? I shouldn't have to tell you how much this has hurt him. When I left I knew you would take care of him. I knew you would be there for him." Raven remembered the toddler she had seen in the yard. "You did that a little more than I thought you would." She added in a mutter. A moment later she thought better of it. "I'm not mad at you. I have no right to be. I left. It's not any of my business anymore."

She fell into another silence and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. Being here reminded her of days she'd rather forget. Not that they were bad, but because they were good and she felt as though she didn't deserve them. Summer would have scolded her for this self-loathing. She would have told her that everyone makes mistakes and that what really mattered was what you did to fix them. Well, Raven hadn't done anything to fix her mistakes. She knew it might have been wrong of her to leave Tai, to leave Yang, but she had her reasons and they were good enough for her to not be sorry for her choice. She didn't care what others thought of her.

"You know, she looks just like you. I've had a hard time finding any of Taiyang in her." Raven spoke up, eager to say everything on her mind and leave. "For a second I almost thought she was Qrow's." She added as a joke, though it wasn't as funny as it had sounded in her head. "Of course, I've had trouble seeing myself in that blonde brat. If I hadn't given birth to her I might doubt she was mine. She smiles too much." Despite this comment, Raven felt a small smile pull at her lips. "She takes after her father more. I'm glad for it, actually. She'll have less reminder of me." Her smile fell and so did her gaze, an unfamiliar tightness in her chest. A sense of longing. She released a bitter laugh as she finally recognized it. "Damn maternal instincts are making me soft." The crunching of leaves behind her made her tense and she was on her feet in a flash, hand on her sword and ready to strike.

"I'd ask you why you're here, but I feel like that'd be a pretty obvious answer." Her brother stood twenty feet ahead by the trees, his hands raised in mock surrender as he continued forward. Raven dropped her fighting stance, but by no means did she let down her guard.

"Is it so wrong for me to visit my teammate's grave?" She snapped, earning a glare from him. His red eyes seemed duller than usual and she did not fail to notice the flask in his front pocket. He slouched forward slightly as he walked towards her, his posture exuding indifference.

"No. Just wondering why you have to come here in secret." He answered as he stopped five feet in front of her. Just far enough to easily dodge an attack. Raven didn't intend on attacking him, though. Even if she did want him dead there was only shame in killing a man while he's drunk, and Qrow reeked of alcohol.

"I didn't want Tai to know I was here." She told him hesitantly, and he narrowed his eyes with suspicion. He didn't trust her in the slightest. She didn't blame him. "If I showed up it would only make things worse. You know that."

"Maybe you shouldn't have left in the first place." He replied bitterly. Raven growled and moved her hand over her sword not to draw it, but to simply know it was there.

"I'm not going to argue with you today. I know we have our differences, but this is not the time. For any of us." She tried to reason with him. He rolled his shoulders as though he was simply brushing off everything she had said and so Raven continued, unwilling to fight him in this condition. "She was my friend too. Let me grieve." This seemed to make him pause and Qrow tipped his head back slightly before nodding.

"Yeah." He didn't move and Raven knew he wasn't going to leave her alone now that he knew she was there. He didn't have that much respect for her. She turned with a scoff and took off towards the cliff, jumping off and shifting into a bird to fly away.

The wind whipped against her face as she made way for Anima. She used to love how free she felt when flying, how the wind flowed flawlessly over her feathers, and how weightless she felt. It was like the entire world was there for her to see and she didn't need anyone's help to do this. It used to be gratifying. Now seeing how amazing everything looked from up in the air only reminded her that it would inevitably be destroyed. It reminded her that there was no way to beat Salem and that Ozpin had cursed her to witness the glory of it all before that witch stripped it all away. Summer would have told her not to be so cynical, but there was a fine line between optimism and denial. Summer had walked it very closely. She had always been blindly optimistic. It was so easy for Ozpin to wrap her around his finger and look where that got her.

Dead and buried on a hillside.


End file.
